The Kabod
Volume 3 Issue 3 Summer Article 1
January 2017
Phonetic and Phonological Research Sharing Methods
Cory C. Coogan Liberty University, [email protected]
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This Individual Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Kabod by an authorized editor of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Coogan: Phonetic and Phonological Research Sharing Methods Running Head: PHONETIC AND PHONOLOGICAL RESEARCH SHARING METHODS 1
Phonetic and Phonological Research Sharing Methods
Cory Coogan
Liberty University
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Phonetic and Phonological Research Sharing Methods
Most linguists affirm the observation that human language is innate; the human mind has
a capacity for grammar that is inherent from birth. This notion implies that a singular grammar
produces all human languages; therefore, to appropriately understand the scope of the human
capacity for grammar, a single model must cohesively describe the various processes of all
human languages. If no single model can, then the innate language theory fails. Testing all
languages against the same model, however, is a daunting task. Because languages are vastly
innumerable and are separated by both culture and geography, no single researcher can review
all languages. Cross-linguistic research is the task of the larger linguistic community because it
requires the compilation and analysis of data from as many languages as possible. This essay will
examine the content and purpose of major books, academic journals, and databases for the fields
of phonetics and phonology in an attempt to identify the current linguistic community for
research and also discuss the relative progress that has been made in compiling cross-linguistic
data in these two linguistic subfields.
Review of Books
Thousands of books have been written within the field of linguistics; however, those
focused on language typology and phonetic inventories are most beneficial to the purpose of
cross-linguistic data compilation. Those reviewed here represent a small selection of well
recognized or distinctly detailed cross-linguistic works.
Classification and Index of the World’s Languages
Classification and Index of the World’s Languages, by C.F. Voeglin and F.M. Voeglin is
a language typology reference. It is a description of languages ordered by typological hierarchy,
so broad categories separate into various subgroupings, which list individual languages, which
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finally list dialects. Groupings and sub-groupings describe their members, and each language
entry discusses speaker population and region, and lists various known dialects. The back of the
book also includes a comprehensive index of the languages and dialects. It is not a directly
phonetic or phonological work, but is a foundational volume for cross-linguistic organization
(Voegelin, & Voegelin, 1976).
Patterns of Sound
Patterns of Sound is I. Maddieson’s personal analysis of UPSID (discussed below),
which is the phoneme inventory database he was largely responsible for creating. It discusses
both the frequency and the distribution of phonemes represented in the database’s sampling of
languages, pointing to various patterns that may be drawn from the data. The work functions as
an initial analysis of UPSID as well as foundational cross-linguistic phonological research.
The Sounds of the World’s Languages
The Sounds of the World’s Languages, by P. Ladefoged and I. Maddieson, is a
descriptive work of all attested speech sounds in human language. It is written as a phonetics
reference material, using an analysis of nearly 400 languages to explain the anatomical
production of all attested speech sounds. It primarily describes all attested consonants, broken by
chapters according to manner of articulation, but also provides a one-chapter overview of
vowels. The work is meant as a comprehensive introduction to attested phonetics, and therefore
does not classify speech sounds by languages. It contributes to cross-linguistic phonetics
research by describing all known phones. (Ladefoged, & Maddieson, 2008)
The World’s Major Languages
The World’s Major Languages, 2nd ed., edited by B. Comrie, is a collection of linguistic
descriptions of various languages. The selection that the book includes attempts to represent
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“major” world languages according to factors such as number of speakers and expected
readership. These selection criteria make the book potentially subjective, containing languages
such as English, Latin, Persian, Chinese, Tagalog, and others, for a total of fifty-two language
descriptions. The work is divided into major sections by language family, and further divided
into chapters by individual language descriptions. Each chapter previews a given language by
reviewing its historical background, phonology, morphology, and syntax, respectively. The
work, therefore, compiles language research beyond the fields of phonetics and phonology, but is
especially useful for referencing detailed phonological analyses of prominent languages (Comrie,
2009).
Review of Journals
None of the academic journals discussed below are solely focused on developing cross-
linguistic theory for phonetics and phonology; however, journals in general are forums for
discussion of scientific theory. They are the primary modes of sharing linguistic research,
making them essential to developing cross-linguistic discussion.
Journal of Phonetics
The Journal of Phonetics is an academic publication of the Elsevier Linguistics
Programme. It functions primarily as a forum for experimental and theoretical phonetic research
publication. However, a variety of other themes are also accepted, so long as all content relates
directly back to the field of phonetics. PDF versions of the articles are available for public
viewing online (Taehong, 2016).
Phonetica
Phonetica is a publication forum for the field of phonetics that was founded in 1957. It
focuses on speaker production and language perception, and is therefore a collection of
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researcher theories and experiment report articles within the field of phonetics. Phonetica
belongs to the Karger Medical and Scientific Publications collection of periodicals, and its
articles can be accessed by either individual purchase or subscription through Karger’s database
(Best, 2016).
Language and Speech
Language and Speech is a peer reviewed research periodical published by Sage. Its focus
extends beyond the immediate fields of phonetics and phonology to include topics such as
language psychology or written language; however, all articles maintain a directed focus in
researching speech. Much of the journal’s content is, therefore, phonetic or phonological in
nature. Article PDFs are available by subscription through the journal’s website (Polikoff, 2016).
Journal of the IPA
The Journal of the International Phonetic Association is a publication for phonetic and
phonological research. It accepts both theoretical publications and articles of practical
application to topics such as speech therapy or teaching methods. The journal also emphasizes
research that applies the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (which was originally
developed by the International Phonetic Association) to phonetic research; thus, the journal
publishes many articles that work to develop the theory of the IPA. Articles are accessible online
by subscription (Arvaniti, 2016).
Review of Databases
Databases are the primary method of compiling language data; they are the attempts at
uniformly and methodically describing the content of languages. By compiling data into a single
location, linguists have a tool to analyze patterns and cross-check theories. Below are some of
the most prominent and comprehensive databases useful to phonetic and phonological research.
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Ethnologue
Ethnologue.com is an actively updated database for language typology. It is an extensive
compilation of brief language entries which give basic typological information, such as estimated
speaker populations, language regions, number of dialects, and more. The database also includes
over two hundred language maps. Print versions of Ethnologue, currently 19th ed., are also
published in a multiple volume format, separated by language geography. Ethnologue is not
distinctly useful as a phonetics or phonological database, but serves for quick-reference language
typology, including general phonological information (Ethnologue: Languages of the World,
2016).
UPSID
The UCLA Phonological Segment Inventory Database is a software database of the
phonemic inventories of 451 languages. It was developed by I. Maddieson in 1984 and has
ceased to be updated since, but is still available for download from UCLA. It serves as a
sampling of language phonemes to be used both for reference and for cross-linguistic language
analysis and generalizations. It is potentially obsolescent, yet it marks some of the earliest
compiled phonological research. This essay references UCLA’s download webpage for UPSID,
but various other online analysis tools exist for the software as well (UCLA phonetics lab
software, (n.d.).
UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive
Created as an extension to the university’s UPSID software, the UCLA Phonetics Lab
Archive is a database of language conversation recordings. The database is an ongoing research
project that contains an extensive selection of recording files, with corresponding translations. It
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offers one of the most comprehensive samplings of various world language recordings, making it
an excellent tool for language reference (Sundara, 2016).
UCLA Phonetics Lab Data. The Lab includes a sub-database of the compiled data of
teaching materials used by two researchers, Peter and Jenny Ladefoged, including sample
recordings for all attested speech sounds. The recordings may be browsed according to either
language or manner of articulation, and all recordings include corresponding transcriptions in the
IPA. The sub-database is intended as both a teaching tool and a reference for researchers to
observe samples or compare language sounds (Latefoged, & Latefoged, n.d.).
(LAPSyD)
The Lyon-Albuquerque Phonological Systems Database is the online, successor database
to the earlier UPSID software. It offers public access to entries of over four hundred languages.
Each entry contains charts for the full phonemic inventory of a given language’s consonants and
vowels. The entries also provide notes for unique vowel and consonant features and phonology,
as well as the languages allowable syllable structures. The information provided by LAPSyD
contains perhaps the most detailed entries of any collection of phonological language data
available, making it an excellent reference tool (Maddieson, Flavier, Marsico, & Pellegrino,
2014-2016).
PHOIBLE
PHOIBLE is a collection of phonetic inventories for over 1500 languages. Each
inventory gives a full listing of consonants and vowels for a given language, which can be
viewed in either list or table format. All sound inventories are consistently transcribed in IPA.
The database is a compilation of material gathered from multiple research communities such as
the UCLA data discussed above, other projects not referenced in this essay, and PHOIBLE’s
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own researchers; each inventory entry includes the label for its respective provider. PHOIBLE is
perhaps the most comprehensive collection of language inventories, making it a significant
contribution to cross-linguistic phonological data (Moran, McCloy, & Wright, 2014).
Analysis and Implications
The material available for examination in databases is exceptional, but is limited by a few
challenges. In the first place, the databases have extensive room for growth. For example,
PHOIBLE’s collection of 1500 language inventories is certainly an exceptional sampling of the
roughly 7000 total languages, but the other 5500 are still a staggering remainder. The challenge
of continuing the development of database material is that previous data becomes outdated.
Languages are living, and many of the phonetic inventories already collected are based on
decades-old data. Upkeep for database material will only grow more difficult as the collections
expand. In a more positive light, however, samplings as large as PHOIBLE’s 1500 do represent
the overwhelming majority of speakers, with very low populations for those languages not
represented. Furthermore, the collection is a large enough percentage of the total for statistical
average calculations. The number also provides sufficient data to analyze characteristics of
language families. It must also be noted that outdated inventories remain useful. Even if a given
language evolves, as long as the old data was accurate, it still represents a once-living language,
making it acceptable data for cross-linguistic study. Current phonetic and phonological databases
do provide ample material for drawing reliable cross-linguistic inferences.
If sufficient data exists for cross-linguistic analysis, then it is the purpose of books and
academic journals to promote analysis of the data. This essay has not attempted to describe
whether linguists have been successful at analyzing the data, rather it has simply discussed the
medium for sharing analyses. No single journal is currently focused solely on cross-linguistic
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analyses; however, there is an abundant community for the publication and discussion of
research. Even considering the community for the linguistic branches of phonetics and
phonology in isolation, three of the four academic journals discussed in this essay are
publications devoted to these subfields. The various focused academic publications demonstrate
that linguistic research has branched enough to make directed research possible. There is
certainly an excellent medium for productive cross-linguistic discussion.
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References
Arvaniti, A. (2016). Journal of the IPA: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-
international-phonetic-association
Best, C. T. (2016). Phonetica. Retrieved from https://www.karger.com/Journal/Home/224275
Comrie, B. (2009). The world’s major languages. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Routledge.
Latefoged, P., & Latefoged J. (n.d.). UCLA phonetics lab data. Retrieved from
http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/
Ladefoged, P., & Maddieson, I. (2008). The sounds of the world’s languages. Malden, MA:
Blackwell Publishing.
Lewis, M. Paul, L. M., Simons, G. F., & Fennig, C. D. (2016). Ethnologue: Languages of the
World, 19th edition. Retrieved from http://www.ethnologue.com
Voegelin, C. F., & Voegelin, F. M. (1976). Classification and index of the world’s languages
New York-Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Maddieson, I. (1984) Patterns of sound. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Maddieson, I., Flavier, S., Marsico, E., & Pellegrino, F. (2014-2016). LAPSyD: Lyon-
Albuquerque Phonological Systems Databases, Version 1.0. Retrieved from
http://www.lapsyd.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/lapsyd/
Moran, S., McCloy, D., & Wright, R. (2014). PHOIBLE online. Retrieved from
http://phoible.org
Polikoff, J. (2016). Language and Speech. Retrieved from http://las.sagepub.com/
Sundara, M. (2016). The UCLA Phonetics Lab. Retrieved from http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/
faciliti/uclaplab.html
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/kabod/vol3/iss3/1 10 Coogan: Phonetic and Phonological Research Sharing Methods PHONETIC AND PHONOLOGICAL RESEARCH SHARING METHODS 11
Taehong, C. (2016). Journal of Phonetics. Retrieved from http://www.journals.elsevier.com/
journal-of-phonetics/
UCLA phonetics lab software. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/
faciliti/sales/software.htm
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